5fouls

ESPN's early rankings for next year https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33248624/early-nfl-power-rankings-2022-1-32-poll-where-super-bowl-teams-rams-bengals-land 1) Chiefs 2) Bills 3) Rams 4) Packers 5) Bengals 13) Colts 26) Bears

As a Bengals fan, this a loss I can accept. Some good guys on the Rams that are easy to root for, and this whole season has been a bonus. Watching Burrow walking off the field, I got the feeling he's incredibly determined to lead them back there again. Upgrade the O-line and good things should happen.

I'm over 50 and I enjoyed it.

Colts going to sign A. Rodgers to start, trade for R. Wilson to back Rodgers up, and then get D. Watson for 3rd string.

I have those same doubts, but if it's a 16-13 type game and the 16 Bengal points are a Mixon run and 3 field goals, I think you would have to look at the D to see who caused turnovers. If there is a lot if scoring and Cincy wins, I agree it's Burrow regardless of what anyone else does.

The loss to Northwestern, fueled by the suspensions will send us to NIT. Fortunately I am in car travelling and missed today. Didn't even turn on Fisch.

Daily Commute Musical Update Motown, when done right, produced some of the best music ever made. Here's a good one that I heard while out and about today. It's Carload of People Approved.

The South Bend Washington Boys have nothing on the SB Washington girls. The coach has three girls (SR, JR, & FR). All 3 have committed to Maryland.

Unfortunately, we are not the only team with something to prove today. Combine the fact that MSU has been a better program when it comes to 'proving' things over the last few years with the fact that they are at home means we may not have hit bottom yet.

Lazy vending machine attendants. It's one thing when your candy bar or bag of chips gets hung up. But, at least you have a visual and can determine whether or not you want to try it again and get the daily double. You're guaranteed to get one at that point, and may even get both. But, it's quite another when your money goes into a soft drink machine and you don't get what you selected. You can't try again because you can't see what's coming next I don't drink anything with sugar in it. So, I stock my desk at work with six pack bottles of Mountain Dew Zero Sugar. Just so happens the other day, on the elevator up to the lunch room to eat, I realized I left my drink at my desk. I thought, no biggie, I'll just get a Diet Dew out of the vending machine. I proceed to enter my money into the machine, push the button for Diet Dew, and I get a Dr. Pepper. Not a Diet Dr. Pepper, mind you. But, a regular Dr. Pepper. I'm thinking to myself. Okay vending machine guy. Could you leave that last spot in the row empty if you run short? Or, at the least, fill the last spot in a diet drink row with another diet drink? I may not have been happy, but at least I would have drunk a Diet Pepsi, a Diet 7-Up, or a bottled water (I would not have drunk a Diet Dr. Pepper). In the end, I had to trudge back down to my desk to get my Mountain Dew Zero so I would have something to drink with my lunch. Pet Peeve

Exciting and emotional win for the USA in Mixed Snowboardcross. Nick Baumgartner, at age 40, teamed with Lindsey Jacobellis to win his first ever Olympic medal. And, it was Gold.

Forgive me KDB. For purposes of this post, I've made us both women.

For the Bengals to win, Mixon is going to have to have a big day and the Bengals defense is going to need to have 2+ turnovers. Aaron Donald will be hitting Burrow a lot if they are forced to pass. If I had to pick two from each team, I would go with Mixon and Higgins from Cincy and Kupp and Donald from the Rams. I don't see either QB in the mix to be MVP of the game.

In my opinion.

I have some ideas for additional Build Your Own Team threads. I'll try to make them more appealing to both the old and new geberstions. I'll break the next one out after the MSU postgame thread runs its course. Meanwhile, keep those lineups coming with this structure.

We are having a discussion. That's the purpose of this board. You make a point, I counter-point, and you come back with your defense. Nothing wrong with that.

You have to start someone from this years team. With IT at PG, you are not starting X. So, you are basically down to starting Race and TJD. And, the initial rule is only 2 per team, not 3. But just like something else, variants keep popping up.

I'll give you your starters, though you're playing Landon Turner based on about half a season of performance. But, let's look at the bench. Tolbert over Zeller is wrong. It just is. 7'0 compared to 6'9? Cody could put it on the floor a little bit. Tolbert couldn't. Wittman was a very good player. Oladipo was runner up to NPOY. He was also a 1st team DEFENSIVE all-american. He was also the 2nd player drafted in the NBA draft. Buckner and Watford aren't really comparable players. But, for the sake of argument, what's going to be more valuable to the team off the bench. A point guard off the bench who can't shoot, who has an average assist to turnover ratio, and at max will be playing 5 minutes a game because we have Isaih Freaking Thomas as our starting point guard. Or, could I bring a high level 3-point shooter who can also rebound at a high level, to spell my weakest starter, who is Turner? With your 5 starters, the best un-biased team you can construct has your entire bench coming from the '12-'13. team.

The knee-jerk reaction is Alford, because this year's team desperately needs outside shooting. But, the reality is that not one single player could make this year's team a championship one. It would take at least 2, but more likely 3, Probably both need to be shooters. Alford and who? May and Watford can both shoot, but would have trouble guarding the wing (assuming both Race and Trayce still start). Oladipo is absolutely dynamic, but isn't a good enough shooter to stop teams from sagging down to help on TJD, and with just one shooter on the floor, how many open looks would Alford get?

Scott. I try to help you out when you make a really good post (my post quoted above), and then you blow it all up with a different one (your post quoted above). I'll give you this year's team, but if you can't find room on the roster for at least one of Oladipo, Watford, or Zeller, your 80's bias is too strong.

In hindsight, maybe I should have went with the '02 team instead of one of the teams from the '80's. That would have pulled in a different generation and would have added some variety to the backcourt since both IT and Alford are automatic picks.

Folks. Even of you don't usually listen to what Scott says, read his sentence I quoted. Those aren't point totals for the first 6 games of the year against cupcakes. Those are point totals from the NCAA tournament for a team that basically played 7.5 guys a game. It was with a shot clock. It was with a 3-point shot (admittedly a shorter one than exists today). When Scott talks about the game being better in the 80's, this is the type of thing he's alluding to. His point has merit on many levels. Doesn't mean that style would work today. But, it was a darn good form of basketball to watch. But, yes, I agree with those that say the games was less interesting without the shot clock or 3-point shot. But, 1987 had both of those.

Buckner left twice?

Yep. Interesting that Benson, a 2 time All-American and NBA #1 overall pick is not making many rosters, and I'm not sure he's been listed as a starter in any. Part of that is the rules are forcing people towards TJD, but still.